BOOKS OF THE DAV.

Otago Witness, Issue 3994, 30 September 1930, Page 68

BOOKS OF THE DAV.

BY THE AUTHOR OF “DUSTY

ANSWER.”

‘ A Note in Music.” By Rosamond Lehmann. (Cloth; 65.) London: Chatto and Windus.

As everything Rosamond Lehmann writes henceforth will consciously or unconsciously be compared with that remarkable first novel of hers, “ Dusty Answer,” which, published in April, 1927, ran almost immediately into six editions, and in the reading world excited the attention of high-brow and low-brow alike, it seems impossible to attempt a review of her next book, “A Note in Music,” without first recalling something of “ Dusty Answer ” itself. After taking into account the exquisite style, the sensitive psychology, the subtle flow of events, the delicacy of word-painting, and all that went to make “ Dusty Answer ” what it undoubtedly was, “ the most striking first novel of its generation,” the fact which one remembers best about it and which hangs like some bitter-sweet scent in the memory is the youth of it, the aching, heart-breaking beauty of youth from adJiescence to the early twenties. Dealing with young people in rare and aesthetic settings—-Judith dressed in yellow linen cutting tulips, in the garden, Jennifer Ij’ing in her room at Cambridge with a copper bowl beside her heaped with oranges, Roddy and Mariella dancing in the twilight, Judith bathing in shallow water with the sun in her eyes—it is divorced from both age and sordidness. One is conscious that here grief and joy, hate and love, sin and virtue, knowledge and innocence, and all the other pairs of opposites, because they lyive dealt only with youth, have impressed one only with their beauty. One is filled with a tenderness and melancholy which are the book itself —a saga of the years before 25. Because of such emotion, then, what one chiefly realises when “ A Note in Music” has been read is the fact that, in this second book, that thrilling consciousness of beauty is absent. All the art that went to the composition of “ Dusty Answer ” is there, in some ways strengthened and bettered; but the poignant atmosphere is missing for the very reason that the characters in “A Note of Music” are not young, but all over 30. The point is, however, that, had one not r6ad “ Dusty Answer ” first there would not be this criticism against its successor; for “A Note of Music "’is an outstanding novel embodying all the style, psychology, flow of events, and word painting that distinguished its forerunner. Two pairs of married people made humdrum and commonplace through custom and roused suddenly into life by reason of the coming of a cultured, beautiful brother and sister to the town, is neither a usual theme nor one for casual treatment, and the fact that Miss Lehmann handles it so sympathetically that it becomes not a story, but a piece of life, is an assurance that the book is no ordinary one. All that is demanded of the modern novel is here, so that “ A Note of Music” can vie with the best. But—the point persists—it is not “ Dusty Answer.” It is quite obvious, however, that Rosamond Lehmann did not intend it to be “ Dusty Answer,” and that, having expressed “ that first, fine, careless rapture,” she wished to write another and different kind of book, the lasting impression in this case to be not of youth, but of middle age. This, if one will cease to remember “ Dusty Answer,” she has done. If youth is magical in all its moods middle age is not, and if she would be truthful, the novelist must remember such in her story. Youth, though grieving, hating, and sinning, has sti’l by reason of its youthfulness, the ability to appear only beautiful. Middle-age, grieving, hating, and sinning has acquired, alas, the appearance of the emotions themselves. Hence where “ Dusty Answer ” is a sheet of woven colours, “ A Note in Music ” has shadow in its tints to detract from their shining brightness. The book is one which holds the attention with every word stated. It is clever and convincing;, and moulds with its own moods the moods of its reader. Finally it leaves him with its particular atmosphere even as did “ Dusty Answer.” It is a good book, a strong, realistic, beautiful, and sad book. But after all is said and done, it is in its own sphere, not the shattering triumph which was “Dusty Answer ” in its sphere. A BONNY STORY. “ Castle Gay.” By John Buchan. (Cloth; fls.) London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd. After a full diet of war books, detective stories, and various shades of thrillers (all interesting enough in their way), John Buchan is more than welcome. In important respects he is vitally different—sparkling sunshine after mixed weather. He tells Ills yarn with a gusto and abandon which captivate and hold. And when it is finished one seeks to find superlatives ■to fit the sensations. There is nothing remarkable about the plot, and nothing obtuse in the literary style. It is just the sort of thing the normal person likes, but the liking is the product of enthusiasm,’ and the pleasure is permanent. Those who know John Buchan expect something better than the ordinary, and they are not disappointed’. The characters who entertain us in “ Castle Gay ” are skilfully drawn. They are original and human, and live their

parts. Three of them—Mr Dickson M Cunn, Dougal, and Jaikie—made a first appearance in “Huntingtower.” They fulfil their earlier promise. The chief actor in “Castle Gay” is Thomas Carlyle Craw, newspaper magnate, whose power in the world is exerted in the. pages of the Craw press. This chain of newspapers succeeds in large measure in imposing the views of its owner on the populace. “A Browning in journalese, his aim was to see the bright side of everything, to expound partial evil as universal good.” Mr Craw is a character, shy and retiring to the point of absurdity, desiring to remain absolutely -unknown except as a newspaper voice. In furtherance of his policy of personal isolation he becomes the tenant of Castle Gay, but a chain of circumstances beyond his control forces him into the limelight, and incidentally show’s him that he has personal as well as newspaper courage. Jakie is the hero of the piece, but he shares the limelight with Mr Craw. We make Jaikie’s acquaintance in a famous international Rugby football match between Scotland and Australia, and this of itself is a fine piece of action. Scotland scrapes home by a brilliant piece of play on the part of J. Galt, and that leads us to expect something worth while, from Jaikie. In that we are not disappointed. Dougal, employed on the Craw Press, which he despises because he has attacks of Socialism and other mental disorders, partners Jaikie on a walking tour. They encounter Mr Craw in the role of pi isoner at a farmhouse, he having been kidnapped by students in mistake for the leader of a local political party. Mr Ci aw is naturally indignant because of the personal invasion on his privacy, and the fact that it has upset his plans. To the world he has become lost in Scotland at the moment when he has started on a foreign tour. This would not be important except that Mr Tibbets, an impetuous reporter on the opposition press, publishes a “ scoop ” on the disappearance of Mr Craw. Neither would this be important had not Mr Craw championed the cause of the Monarchy Party in the Republic of Evallonia. While Mr Craw has been in compulsory hiding leaders of the Monarchists, including a prince, have arrived to confer with him. These are followed by desperate men representing the Republicans, part of whose plan is to kidnap the prince and to use violence where and when necessary. This is the tangle which Jaikie, Dougal, and Alison Westwater, daughter of Lord Rhynns, owner of Castle Gay, are forced to take a hand in aid of Mr Craw. The sanctuary of Castle Gay is invaded by strange people, and Mr Craw hesitates to take the open. Jaikie stirs him into action, however, and the retiring newspaper man finds his feet and his public voice. Naturally he is somewhat “ rattled ” when the Republican envoys appear in the library of Castle Gay and demand at the point of revolvers the person of Prince John.

With such versatile people Mr Buchan is at home, and he entertains his readers to a series of delightful surprises. These are uniformly interesting, but it is the art of the telling which gives eharm to it all. The development of Mr Craw from the Im-mt-ing distaste to anything in the nature of personal contact with men outside his personal staff into one who even addresses a political meeting to save him self from publie discovery, and who meets the Evallonian Republicans in their full war paint is a piece of fine imagining. Jaikie’s escapades are as original as they are amusing, and the transfoi mation of Dougal to a saner outlook on life is in its way as interesting as are the difficulties of Mr Tibbets or the courage of Alison. It is indeed a bonny story.

OVERSHADOWED BY EVIL. “The Devil’s Jig.” By Robert Paye. (Cloth; 65.) London: John Lane, the Bodley Head, Ltd.

This strange, gloomy book peopled by souls over whom the spirit of evil has a sinister power, and dealing with vital events in the lives of three of them, carries the reader with it to its final page, and, having comforted him with the feeling that at last all is well, causes him suddenly to wonder what it has all been about. Futility for its own sake is an unusual theme for a novel, and although the author prepares one for it by suggesting, in his preface, “ misfortunes undeserved, unhappiness inescapable, love wasted, hate purposeless, beauty destroyed, and a cheat triumphant,” the reader finds himself seeking behind the general effect for some main cause other than that of a malignant influence. There seems, however. to be none; whereupon he has to accept the author’s explanation regarding the power of the Devil, and decide that there is no use in worrying about what takes place, as it is the result of a supernatural humour.

The scene is laid in the eighteenth century, London, and is set around the life of Edmund Wraxham, who, just after the story opens, is made Lord Shalford by the death of his evil old father. But ,at the same time he ia possessed of the facts that he is not the rightful heir to the title, his father having married an actress before he met Edmund’s mother; Edmund is really a bastard, while an unknown person named Philip Guise is the rightful Earl. The tale concerns itself with the struggle between Edmund’s honesty and his love of position, for, if Philip Guise

is restored to his place, he, Edmund, will be not only a disgraced beggar, but unable to marry his fiancee, the lovely Cecilia Torrance. But there is more than that; there is the sudden blaze of affection on Cecilia’s part for Philip Guise, with the result that she, apparently a symbol of chastity, becomes the man’s plaything. There is the gradual weakening of Edmund’s character until he is almost the image of his malicious father. There is the tragedy connected with the love-tangle in the book. The end is reached only after stress and turmoil, and brings with it a distinct feeling of relief. In some respects “ The Devil’s Jig ” is reminiscent of “ Wuthering Heights.” It has the same air of heavy foreboding, and deals as intimately with human emotions. It is written in an easy, flowing style, which seems to improve as one reads on, though its conversa-

tions are unequal in merit, some smacking eloquently of 1750, but some being almost modern. We shall hear more of Robert Paye. LOVER AND LOVED. * The Chaste Mistress.” By Constance Hagberg Wright. (Cloth; 65.) London: John Lane (the Bodley Head, Ltd.). It is often the case that a novel based on the life story of actual people lacks the art and balance found in a novel of fiction. It may be that the writer finds it impossible, with so many facts before him, to make that selection which is natural for a work of fancy, and, as a result, presents a string of events inclined more often than not to be boring. It is because “ The Chaste Mistress ” escapes this fault despite the fact that all it states can be verified as really having taken place that, of its kind, it is an outstanding book, and one which is a pleasure to read. The love story of that sweet singer, Martha Ray, and her patron, Lord Sandwich, who later became her lover, is one not generally known. The girl, a member of a poor family, was between 15 and 1G when Lord Sandwich, attracted by her voice, took her away from the haberdasher’s shop where she worked and had her educated and her voice trained,. He himself was married to a mad wife, so that there was no thought of his marrying Martha. But for all that he treated her with the utmost consideration, and despite the fact that she was his mistress, regarded her in almost all respects as if she were lawfully wedded to him. Then, when she was about 30 and had three children, Martha fell really in love with a romantic young gallant, Captain Hackman, who desired to marry her. Helped by a black man named Omai. whom he had brought from Otaheiti, Lord Sandwich learned of the matter and presented Martha with the alternatives of either going with Hackman or for ever renouncing her three children. Her affections drew her to the children; Hackman was dismissed; then in a fit of jealousy he shot her, thus providing the chief sensation of the year 1779. Whet is remarkable about this story is Constance Hagberg Wright’s treatment of it. By the use of a sure but delicate touch, a display of perfect taste, and an avoidance of anything hysterical or sentimental, she grips both the imagination and the attention. “ The Chaste Mistress ” might be called a gentlewoman among novels, composed by one who is herself a gentlewoman, and who knows the period of which she writes.

A DELIGHTFUL ROMANCE. “The Thirty Thieves.” By B. Dyke Acland. (Cloth; Gs.) London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd.

Although scarcely up to the standard of his first novel, “ Filibuster,” B. Dyke Acland’s latest book, “The Thirty Thieves,” is a well-written, very readable romance. Its air of light banter, its veiled satire, and its casual treatment of important situations are as bright and pleasing as its colourful paper wrapper. Also, they are in keeping with the character of the Englishman who tells the tale, and who has so subtle a sense of humour that he can even make prideful remarks himself without anybody’s taking offence. “The Thirty Thieves ” are part of the Government, led by a jovial American barber, who are slowly but surely spoiling the beautiful little state of Cineraria, the rightful ruler of which is the Grand Duchess Denyse. Owing to her mother’s peculiarities, Denyse has never had a chance to rule, and has seen her country made into a Republie. Our Englishman is prevailed upon to spy out the land and see if, The Forty Thieves being violently hated by the other half of the Government, the two parties may be swept aside, and so leave room for the re-entry of Denyse All this is accomplished. We see our hero entertained by the barber-Presi-dent and his delightfully vulgar American wife in their up-to-date ancient castle; we hear him conversing with the peasants, among whom are some of the best loyalists j we watch him being diplomatic enough as to abduct a leader who seemed to be troublesome; and, most of all, we understand his struggle with regard to the Grand Duchess Denyse. Restored to her throne, Denyse will be lost to him for ever. Otherwise

Mr Dyke Acland has handled this last point with much skill. Without a single emotional passage, a single vow, or a single caress, he creates an atmosphere of such reality that the

reader is aware of love’s presence in every page, even though, not once, does the god really reveal himself.